


your body never really forgets what your mind might want to

by SerpentineJ



Category: Gintama
Genre: ...i started w sakagin but i couldnt JUST do sakagin ......., M/M, Multi, joi ot4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 02:14:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15426801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerpentineJ/pseuds/SerpentineJ
Summary: Gintoki feels himself start to drop off, the flame of the adrenaline of the celebration dying down to glowing embers in his chest. Unconsciously, he leans into Sakamoto's arm. His guard is down. Sakamoto hiccups."What about you, Gintoki?" Sakamoto says quietly in his ear. Gintoki blinks. Sakamoto's low voice is suddenly much louder than the chattering of their drunk men around the fire. "Are you warmin' up to me?"





	your body never really forgets what your mind might want to

The first time Sakamoto kisses Gintoki, they're both drunk off their asses. 

"Gintoki!" Sakamoto shouts gleefully, slinging his arm around Gintoki's shoulders. 

Gintoki hiccups.

"Tatsuma," he says loudly in reply. "You're drunk!"

Sakamoto giggles.

"So are you!" He laughs. Sakamoto becomes three times as loud when drunk, if that's even possible. It's the middle of the Joi war, and even the soldiers are buzzed, having a good time around the campfire, celebrating the success of their most recent campaign. It's dangerous, but there's a few sober men standing watch, and the Amanto army in the region has retreated to lick their wounds. It may be a trojan horse scenario, but the Amanto haven't sent them a present yet, so Gintoki takes it as a win.

"Come on, drink!" Sakamoto pours him another cup of the sweet sake that one of Sakamoto's supply-route men had sent them. They'll probably clear through it tonight, at the pace the men are going. Gintoki hiccups again and accepts the refill.

"Y'know," Sakamoto mumbles, "what would make this better? Pretty ladies, pretty ladies."

"You always say that," Gintoki says, draining his cup again.

"I'd even go for Zura at this point," Sakamoto sighs drunkenly. "All that pretty hair..."

Gintoki snorts.

"Zura?" He says, ignoring the fluttering in his chest. "Like you'd ever make it with that stiff."

Sakamoto laughs.

"You never know!" He leans in close, supporting himself on Gintoki's side. "I think he's warming up to me."

"You think everyone is warming up to you," Gintoki mutters. Sakamoto giggles in his ear.

"Maybe," he says, "but it's more fun that way, isn't it?"

His body is warm against Gintoki's side. His curly hair tickles Gintoki's dirt-streaked cheek. He smells like drink and blood and the battlefield, but so does Gintoki, and the scent is so entrenched in Gintoki's nose it doesn't matter anyways. 

Gintoki feels himself start to drop off, the flame of the adrenaline of the celebration dying down to glowing embers in his chest. Unconsciously, he leans into Sakamoto's arm. His guard is down. Sakamoto hiccups.

"What about you, Gintoki?" Sakamoto says quietly in his ear. Gintoki blinks. Sakamoto's low voice is suddenly much louder than the chattering of their drunk men around the fire. "Are you warmin' up to me?"

Gintoki turns to look at him, and Sakamoto's face is very close - he's smiling, as always, and he leans in and presses an artless kiss to Gintoki's mouth. Gintoki stiffens. It's over in a moment, but Sakamoto's lips are warm and firm. It's not like Gintoki's never been kissed before, but the bushy curl of Sakamoto's hair against his forehead and the large, knuckled hand on his shoulder reminds him that it's not a pretty girl kissing him.

Sakamoto pulls away.

"Man," he laughs, "I'm drunk!" 

"Tatsuma -" Gintoki says.

"I'm headin' back to the tent," Sakamoto says, and he's getting up in the next moment, propping one hand up on his knee. Gintoki twists to stare at his back as he leaves. 

\--

"Hey," Gintoki hisses, crawling into their shared tent. "Tatsuma."

Tatsuma doesn't respond.

Gintoki scowls and kicks him.

"Ow!" Sakamoto yelps, jerking upright. 

"Don't pretend to sleep," Gintoki says, sliding onto his own bedroll. 

"Ahaha," Sakamoto laughs, scratching his head. "You found me out?"

"You snore," Gintoki mutters. 

"All men snore," Sakamoto says, smiling.

Gintoki glares at him in the dark.

"Anyways," he says, "what was that all about, you stupid fuzzhead?"

"Hmm?" Sakamoto says, rolling over. "That hurts. Do you all have to call me stupid all the time?"

"Stop avoiding the question," Gintoki says, kicking at him again.

"Eh?" Sakamoto says, sitting up. "I thought Gintoki would want to ignore that."

Gintoki reaches out to swat him over the head.

"You bastard," he says, "are you just using me to blow off steam? Don't make everything so complicated-"

Sakamoto catches his wrist. Gintoki jerks in surprise.

"Hmm?" Sakamoto says, getting up on his knees and making his way over to Gintoki's crappy sleeping bag. "Did Gin-chan, maybe, like it?"

Gintoki feels himself turn red.

"Don't make fun of me," he says, yanking on his arm to pull it away from Sakamoto's grip, but Sakamoto topples over onto him instead. He props himself up on his elbows, pressing Gintoki into his bedroll.

"Hmm?" Sakamoto says again, smiling. "Maybe you are finally warmin' up to me."

Gintoki makes a noise. Sakamoto leans down and kisses him again, properly, even though he still tastes like alcohol and bad breath, and Gintoki lets him.

He can feel Sakamoto smiling against his mouth.

"Mm," Sakamoto murmurs, pulling away just barely, tucking his head into the crook of Gintoki's shoulder, his lips pressed against his collarbone. "I think you do like it."

He kisses up Gintoki's jawline. Gintoki shifts under him. 

"You're so annoying," Gintoki says.

Sakamoto laughs against his skin.

"And I bet you've never had a guy kiss you before," he says. "I figured Zura or Takasugi had gotten here before me, but I guess not."

"What are you-" Gintoki says, but Sakamoto's knee between his legs is suddenly more insistent, and his eyes snap open in the darkness with a rushed intake of air. "Tatsuma, what are you... talking about?"

"You mean you don't know?" Sakamoto says, voice slow with drink, grinning. "I won't spoil the surprise, then."

"Tatsuma-" Gintoki starts, but Sakamoto kisses him again.

"Hmm," Sakamoto mumbles against his mouth. Gintoki feels the alcohol slowing his thinking. He kisses back. "You're much cuter when you're quiet, Gintoki."

"Shut up," Gintoki says, but Tatsuma's lips slip away from his, and graze his ear, and Tatsuma's head falls to his shoulder. Gintoki glances down. "Tatsuma?"

Sakamoto snores on his shoulder.

A vein pulses in Gintoki's temple.

\--

The first time Sakamoto kisses Katsura, they've just lost a battle. 

Katsura, ever the general, is up late poring over maps and studying his mistake. Sakamoto brushes aside the curtain at the entrance to their makeshift strategy tent. Katsura is sitting in the middle of the muddy ground, a tarp that had been used to cover one of the supply route cards spread out under him, papers scattered everywhere.

"Hey, Zura," Sakamoto says. "You can't blame yourself for everything, you know."

"I'm not," Katsura says stiffly. "I am trying to avoid future mistakes like today."

They'd lost an entire battilion of men on the beaches to the south to an Amanto ambush.   
Sakamoto steps carefully over the mass of crumpled, water-stained papers that Katsura is obsessing over.

"Everyone's gone to bed already, besides the night watch," he says slowly. "We won't be able to move tomorrow if you're not in fighting shape, you know."

Katsura sighs. When Sakamoto presses his hand to Katsura's shoulder, the tension seems to drain out of his body.

"Come on," Sakamoto says, hauling Katsura up by the elbow. "Up we go."

Katsura slumps against him. Sakamoto sighs.

"How is a general supposed to lead his troops if he's collapsing from exhaustion?" He admonishes him. "You're making the poor boke chara play the worrying mother-in-law role now, Zura."

"It's not Zura," Katsura mumbles against Sakamoto's shouder. "It's-"

"Katsura, I know," Sakamoto says, slipping one arm around Katsura's waist to help support him. "Let's go to bed."

"Don't say that in such a vulgar way," Katsura mutters. Sakamoto laughs.

"You're the only one who hears that as dirty, Zura," he says. "I'll take you to bed properly later, but right now you need to rest, you know."

Katsura's face is pink. His cheek is pressed into Sakamoto's shoulder. His hands come up to grip Sakamoto's shoulders.

"What does it mean to be a leader, Tatsuma?" Katsura says quietly, not meeting Sakamoto's eyes. "I thought I knew. I am still... a failure of a general."

Sakamoto sighs. He presses a kiss to Katsura's cheek. Katsura's face goes from pink to red. They're all still young, Sakamoto thinks, including him, but Katsura's unquestioning devotion to the role of leader makes him seem even younger than he is, even when his noble words and gleaming blade inspire the hordes of men that follow him.

"Don't think about it too much, Zura," he says quietly, pulling Katsura closer to him. Katsura leans up to kiss him on the mouth. "You're the airheaded comic relief character. It doesn't suit you."

There's a light thump as Katsura hits him in the side.

"Isn't that you?" Katsura mutters against his mouth.

\--

The first time Sakamoto kisses Takasugi, they're coming off a massive Takasugi-Gintoki spat.

"Oi, oi!" Sakamoto calls, running after Takasugi, who's stormed out of camp in a huff. Katsura has stayed behind to scold Gintoki. "Takasugi, wait up!"

Takasugi speeds up.

"Hey!" Sakamoto yelps. "I'm trying to help, here!"

Takasugi whirls around on him.

"Cut it out," he hisses. "I don't need your help, Tatsuma."

"Maybe not," Sakamoto sighs, breathing hard, coming to a stop beside Takasugi - man, for a guy with short legs, he sure walks fast - "but we don't want to get the men all worked up, do we?"

"They're used to it," Takasugi says, turning away with a sneer.

Sakamoto rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, 'cause you and Gintoki have fights every other week, and poor Daddy and Mommy have to clean it up," he says. "Pappy Tatsuma! Mammy Zura!"

Takasugi aims a kick at his head.

"Shut up, you loudmouthed idiot," he says.

"What, jealous that I'm the one married to Zura?" Sakamoto teases, working his way to a more cheerful mood. "Between you and Gintoki, you're gonna make me jealous, you know."

"Shut up," Takasugi repeats, glaring at him.

"All you and Gintoki need is another way to blow off some of that pent-up steam," Sakamoto sighs. "Want to go to a red-light district?"

"Not all of us think with our genitals," Takasugi mutters.

Sakamoto laughs.

"Are you saying you're in love with him?" He asks, and Takasugi really does try to take his head off this time, the hiss of his blade slicing through air the only thing Sakamoto hears before he's toppling backwards on instinct, landing on his ass in the middle of a mossy clearing. Takasugi stands over him, slim figure framed by the blue sky, sheathing his blade.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he says pointedly.

Sakamoto laughs.

"I never specified who I was talking about," he replies, and Takasugi yanks him up by his haori and kisses him, harsh and sharp and full of pent-up emotion, like everything Takasugi does. 

"Do you ever stop talking?" Takasugi mutters against his mouth.

Sakamoto smiles.

"To be honest," he says, pulling away just a bit, "I thought you three were gonna leave me out. Childhood friends and all that."

"Shut up," Takasugi says.

"I figured you all already had things sorted out," Sakamoto continues, because sometimes he really wants to push Takasugi's buttons. "Turns out, I took Gintoki and Zura's firsts, too."

Takasugi snarls and shoves him against the nearest tree. The foliage above shakes with his force. Sakamoto feels bark dig into his back.

"Shut up," Takasugi repeats.

"Why don't you tell them how you feel?" Sakamoto smiles, looking down at him. Takasugi, eyes dark, kisses him again. Sakamoto kisses him back, then pulls away again. "They're in love with you too, you know."

Takasugi's hand presses harshly against his shoulder. He's gritting his teeth. He kisses Sakamoto again. Sakamoto kisses back again. 

"You three are really," Sakamoto says against his mouth, "boneheaded samurai."  
Shoyo-sensei's face suddenly flashes through Takasugi's mind, and he tears himself away from Sakamoto.

"Don't say that sort of thing," Takasugi says roughly, wiping his mouth. His lips are swollen and red. Sakamoto thinks it's a good look on him. He smiles.

"Shall we go back?" He says. "Zura and Gintoki are waiting."

Takasugi glares at him.

\--

If Katsura and Gintoki notice Takasugi's flushed cheeks and slightly-out-of-order hair when they return, they don't say anything. 

"It's been a while since we all shared a tent," Sakamoto says, when Katsura kisses him sitting on his bedroll, gently, because Katsura isn't forceful unless he's desperate. Later that night, when he walks in on Takasugi on top of Gintoki in the tent, kissing him like he needs him to breathe, he doesn't say anything until Takasugi yanks him in by the wrist and presses him into the lumpy bedroll. Even later, when Katsura opens the tent flap and immediately tries to back away in mortification, he only smiles when Gintoki wraps his arms around Katsura's waist and pulls him in, pressing their whole bodies together.

He gets the feeling he's missing something important. 

\--

"Back then," Sakamoto says, lying half-on Gintoki's futon, his red coat discarded somewhere in Gintoki's living room, "do you think we could have changed anything?"

Gintoki glances at him. His signature kimono is crumpled by his pillow. 

"Huh?" He says. "I dunno. It's pointless to look back on the past."

Katsura, his head pillowed on Sakamoto's stomach, reaches out to swat Gintoki on the hip. Sakamoto has no idea where Katsura's clothes are. 

"Gintoki," he says huffily, "it's because you're always like that that we haven't had a proper flashback story, you know."

Sakamoto turns his head. Takasugi is sitting propped up by one arm, fiddling with his pipe, Sakamoto's fuzzy head resting on his thigh.

"What do you think, Takasugi?" He says, smiling.

Takasugi looks down at him with his one good eye.

"I think," he says, tapping the tobacco-end of his pipe against Sakamoto's forehead, "you are all... massive idiots."

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: ghfhghhgkf... i love them
> 
> tumblr @ leofemt  
> twitter @ serpentinej


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